WHILE the eyes of the world are on the Olympic Park in Stratford, Studio Theatre has been telling tales of the other Stratford and the day it went to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s home town to perform its award-winning excerpt from Hamlet at the Swan Theatre.

“It was an incredible experience for the cast to perform on the RSC’s stage,” said Hamlet director Lesley Bates. “But what made it really special was the level of support we got from Salisbury and the number of people who travelled up to Stratford to watch us.”

The invitation to tread the boards at the RSC came after Studio scooped top spot in the RSC’s National Shakespeare Competition, which was run as part of the All England Theatre Festival’s one-act play competition.

Studio had originally performed the full-length version of Shakespeare’s play at its Ashley Road theatre last July and entered a 50-minute excerpt into the national competition.

The am-dram group was one of just 13 companies from across the UK invited to performat Stratford as part of the World Shakespeare Festival and London 2012.

Interest in the performance was such that Studio organised a 50- seater coach from Salisbury for the day, and others travelled independently to lend the group support.

“The RSC could not have been more welcoming or supportive,” said Lesley.

“We had a fantastic day, which we will not forget in a hurry.”